Core Focus DPT

Cancer treatment is often a story of survival, but what comes next is just as important. For many women, post-cancer recovery includes navigating the effects of surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy on the pelvic floor. Whether you’ve had treatment for gynecologic cancer, breast cancer, or colorectal cancer, your pelvic health may be impacted, especially when scar tissue is involved.

Let’s talk about what that looks like and how you can safely reclaim strength and comfort.

Why the Pelvic Floor Needs Special Attention After Cancer

The pelvic floor is a group of muscles, ligaments, and connective tissue that support your bladder, bowel, uterus, and sexual function. Cancer treatments can cause a variety of disruptions to this area, including:

• Pelvic surgeries, like hysterectomy or tumor removal, which often leave behind stiff scar tissue that limits mobility and affects muscle coordination
• Radiation therapy, which can lead to tissue thickening, dryness, and pain
• Hormonal shifts from medical or surgical menopause that change muscle tone and elasticity
• Chemotherapy, which may weaken pelvic muscles and contribute to urinary urgency or fecal incontinence (ProActive Pelvic Health)

You might notice symptoms like urinary leakage, pelvic pain, painful intercourse, or pressure in your pelvic area. These are more common than you think—and they’re not just “your new normal.”

Scar Tissue: What It Is and Why It Matters

Scar tissue is your body’s way of healing after surgery or radiation. But unlike regular tissue, it’s tougher, less flexible, and can create restrictions across muscle layers and connective tissue. That means areas around your abdominal wall, vagina, perineum, or internal organs may feel tight, stuck, or even numb.

These restrictions can pull on the pelvic floor and create compensations, contributing to pain, weakness, or difficulty with bowel and bladder function.

The good news? With gentle and consistent care, scar tissue mobility can improve.

Tools and Techniques to Improve Scar Tissue Mobility

Here are some of the most effective ways to address scar tissue and support pelvic floor recovery:

1. Scar Tissue Massage (Self or Assisted)

Using your fingertips, a tool like a silicone cup, or a scar mobilization instrument (like a gua sha), you can gently work around healed incisions. A physical therapist can teach you how to:

• Use circular, sweeping, and lifting motions
• Work along and around the scar line—this means addressing it in all planes and dimensions: left to right, up and down, inward and outward, even diagonally
• Stay within a pain-free range, and only after tissue has fully healed

2. Vaginal Dilators and Wands

For internal scar tissue—especially after radiation or vaginal surgery—vaginal wands or dilators can help gently stretch and mobilize the area. When used correctly and under guidance, they can restore elasticity, reduce pain with intimacy, and improve pelvic floor function.

3. Gentle Stretching and Yoga-Based Movement

Targeted stretches like deep squats, hip openers, and diaphragmatic breathing can ease tension in the pelvic region. Poses like Child’s Pose, Happy Baby, or Reclined Bound Angle (Supta Baddha Konasana) support tissue lengthening without strain.

4. Manual Therapy with a Pelvic Floor PT

A trained pelvic floor therapist can use internal and external techniques to release scar adhesions, improve blood flow, and retrain your muscles. They’ll also assess your whole-body movement to help you avoid compensatory patterns that make things worse.

You don’t have to figure it out alone, especially when your body has already been through so much.

When to See a Pelvic Floor Physical Therapist

If you’re more than 6 weeks post-op or done with radiation and still experiencing:

• Pain in the pelvic, vaginal, or abdominal area
• Painful sex or tampon insertion
• Leaking urine or stool
• Difficulty fully emptying your bladder or bowel
• A sense of heaviness or bulging

…it’s time to consult a pelvic health specialist. Your physical therapist will guide you through healing, not just for your scar tissue, but for your whole self.

Healing after cancer doesn’t stop with remission.

Your pelvic floor deserves care, attention, and expert support. With the right tools and techniques, you can feel strong, capable, and connected to your body again.

If you’re unsure where to start, I’m here to help. Reach out to a physical therapist or share this with a friend who may be quietly struggling. Healing is possible—and you’re not alone.

Disclosures & Disclaimers

Hey there! Just a heads-up. When you click on my links and make a purchase, I might get a tiny commission. It doesn’t affect my honest reviews and comparisons one bit! I’m all about recommending stuff I’ve personally tried, genuinely love, thoroughly researched, and wholeheartedly endorse.

** The views and opinions expressed on this site belong to Vigeo Ergo Consulting LLC. Any advice or suggestions offered herein are not a replacement for medical advice from a physician or other healthcare professional. My blogs are for informational and entertainment purposes only. It is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.